Her Trusted Protector
by CeceTheAuthor
Summary: Ladybug calls upon Carapace during a fight against a villain named Virtualoso but forgets one all important thing at the end of the battle, leading to something she never expected. (Rated K for the action scene)


_This oneshot is a birthday gift for a friend on Miraculous Amino! Ship hate will not be tolerated._

 _(Also, there are probably a few typos here and there but this is the longest oneshot I've ever done so I've missed a few when editing.)_

Loud screams echoed in the not-so-far distance as Ladybug swung through the air on her yo-yo, desperately rushing to meet Master Fu before it was too late.

Loud thumps resounded through the air as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, the wind flowing through her raven-coloured hair as she sprinted away from the action. Each graceful leap and bound caused her heart to pound as the rush of adrenaline running through her blood continued to run rampant.

Her heartbeat quickened with each and every leap she took, dread filling her at the thought of not managing to get back to the akuma — and back to Chat Noir — before it was too late.

What would happen to Paris if she failed to do her duty?

Less than one hour ago, a villain that went by the name Virtualoso had appeared out of the blue and was currently rampaging through the streets of Paris, zapping innocent civilians and everything in their surroundings with the beams that were shooting out from the virtual reality headset he wore.

With a shout of determination and the push of a small button, everything he zapped deteriorated and was sent into his own idyllic virtual world. Everyone and everything that had been sent there morphed and changed shape to fit his personal needs. Everything was the way he conducted it to be.

The last thing Ladybug heard the villain shout before she swung away was a cry of "If I can't have things the way they're supposed to be, I'll just have to make them that way myself."

From the short glimpse she had gotten of him, she could make out that he had spiky black hair tipped with a dark blood-red. Virtualoso's entire colour scheme seemed to be primarily made up of a plethora of different shades of black and red.

He wore a dark red costume that went up to the base of his neck, leaving the rest of his neck exposed and showing his tan skin. The trousers he wore were a rich red in colour and the trainer-like shoes were raven black with red soles.

He also wore a light grey virtual reality headset with a red stripe curling around the edge, and a small keychain hung out of the pocket on the black jacket-like section of his suit that went over the red section of his torso.

If it weren't for the freakish red glow of the VR headset every time the button on the side of it was pushed, Virtualoso may have almost blended in to the public as people may have assumed he was an overeager gamer.

Ladybug had already almost been hit by his powers multiple times, causing her to realise just what — or who — she needed. She could still hear the evil cackle the villain let out as he zapped everything around him.

Dropping into an alleyway, Ladybug detransformed, a wave of luminous red lighting washing over her as she became Marinette once again.

Poking her head around the corner, she saw that nobody was around. Marinette quickly rushed out and ran towards Master Fu's place.

She winced when she heard a few screams in the direction that she'd swung away from, feeling a pang of guilt for leaving the innocent civilians and Chat Noir on their own. But she knew that fetching this miraculous would help and would go towards the greater good.

Marinette slammed the door open as soon as she arrived, causing a bang that made her wince. She saw Master Fu already patiently waiting for her with the miraculous in his hand, Wayzz already retreated inside of the dark green jewel.

Marinette hastily took the miraculous from Master Fu's waiting hand, thanking him profusely as she made her way back outside and transformed back into her superhero persona, Ladybug, once again.

She raced through the beautiful city at double the pace she had done only minutes prior, her pigtails starting to become loose in the wind.

She landed on a tall building near the school, desperately searching for him. After a few moments, her eyes landed upon him and she jumped down to him, startling him and making him jump on the spot.

"Ladybug, you scared me," he breathed, placing a hand over the left side of his chest which encased his heart. Nino had been hiding within a few of the bushes outside of their school. It was a bad hiding place, but it had been working out so far.

"Nino Lahiffe, here is the miraculous of the turtle which grants you the power of protection," she began, offering the miraculous to him as she continued her usual speech. "You will use it for the greater good. After the mission is complete, you will return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you again?"

Nino modded, a wide grin on his face as he took the box from her hand. He lifted the lid of the small box, causing a bright flash of light to materialise from within it.

"Hey, little buddy." Nino greeted as he and Wayzz fist-bumped.

Ladybug stood next to them, watching as the boy and the kwami reunited after a few months of being apart. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to only have Tikki around during certain attacks.

Poor Nino and Wayzz didn't get enough time together to actually get to know each other!

"Wayzz, shell on!"

Moments later, Carapace stood in the spot that Nino had just been in. He grinned at Ladybug, ready to leap into what he knew may be a tough battle with Virtualoso.

Ladybug wrapped her arm around Carapace's waist, taking her yo-yo from her side and flinging it out in front of her while ignoring the thumping of her heart. It latched onto a nearby rooftop and the two swung away to where Virtualoso continued to wreak havoc.

"Chat Noir is over there!" Carapace pointed out as the two swung over towards the action.

They landed on the rooftop where Chat Noir was perched, observing Virtualoso so that he could figure out how to defeat the villain and what his akumatized object may be.

Sensing them land behind him, he pointed at the villain on the streets below. "His object isn't the headset. It's the keychain hanging from his pocket."

Ladybug glanced over the edge of the rooftop, her gaze landing upon the keychain her partner in fighting crime had pointed out to them.

The small charm stood out from the rest of Virtualoso's costume as it was neither red nor black. It wasn't even grey like the headset he wore. Instead, it was dark blue but not dark enough to fully blend in with the black of the jacket section.

Ladybug walked away from the edge of the rooftop, talking her yo-yo into her hand. She slung it into the air above her, standing on one foot as she called out the extremely familiar magic words.

"Lucky charm!" She exclaimed before catching the object that it had conjured up in the sky.

"Is that a hacksaw?" Carapace questioned, staring at the peculiar object in her hands.

"I think it is." She replied, moving the saw in her hands as she inspected it before surveying the situation.

Her eyes flickered over the hacksaw, Carapace's shield, Chat Noir's right hand and the floor beneath Virtualoso's feet. A plan began to formulate in her mind and, once she knew she had all of the details, she informed her teammates about what they needed to do.

"You can always count on me, M'Lady." Chat Noir smirked with a flirty tone to his voice, winking at her which caused her to playfully roll her eyes.

Immediately afterwards, the three heroes jumped down to the street below, running towards Virtualoso who awaited them on the streets below.

"Hey! Over here!" Chat Noir shouted, his booming voice catching the attention of the villain who span around to see the three heroes charging straight towards him.

Virtualoso cackled at the three heroes, reaching his hand up to push down the button on his headset.

"I'll cover you!" Carapace shouted, his quick reflexes springing into action as he ran in front of his teammates and deflected the laser-like beam of light that shot out from Virtualoso's headset.

As soon as they got close enough to the villain, Chat Noir called upon his Cataclysm and black magic started to form in his right palm.

He slid past the villain, brushing his hand along a patch of the ground underneath Virtualoso's feet.

The ground beneath him shook and crumbled to pieces, causing him to fall into a thin but deep hole in the ground that the Cataclysm had created.

Noticing his sudden confinement, Virtualoso let out a growl and immediately reached up to push the button again so that he could zap Chat Noir and the rest of the heroes away into his own virtual world.

"Shellter!" Carapace called out after reviewing a nod from Ladybug, and a green forcefield materialised around them.

The beam that shot out from Virtualoso's glasses hit the wall of the forcefield, dispersing into smaller beams that did no harm and bounced onto the ground below their feet.

Ladybug watched as Carapace smirked triumphantly, the villain's expression slowly morphing to one of shock and then realisation.

Still, he persisted and let out a feral growl, causing the heroes to jump and dodge as they tried to approach him. Carapace's shield protected them from the more carefully aimed blasts as Virtualoso started to clamber out of the hole he'd been trapped in.

"Did you seriously think a little hole would stop me from building my dream world?!" He shouted, letting out a cackle as he squirmed, almost setting himself free.

The three heroes continued to dodge the blasts, but one wrong move quickly caused things to go awry.

Ladybug and Carapace watched on as Chat Noir faded into dust as he was sent to the other world, becoming another one of Virtualoso's mindless version of humanity.

Ladybug's jaw dropped but she shook her head. If she wanted him back, she had to get through him first.

Carapace's protective forcefield started to flicker as the black-cladded hero disappeared in front of their eyes, causing a rush of adrenaline for Ladybug as she charged forwards, anger running through her veins, and grabbed the keychain from his pocket, using the hacksaw to cut the chain.

A dark butterfly came fluttering out as Virtualoso let out an angry cry, Carapace grabbing a hold of each of his arms and pushing him back into the cataclysmed hole so that he wasn't able to cause any more damage as Ladybug purified the akuma.

"Bye-bye, Little butterfly," She waved, smiling at the pure white butterfly fluttered away.

"Miraculous ladybug!"

A swarm of magical ladybugs surrounded them, transforming the struggling Virtualoso back into his normal self: a teenage boy who Ladybug vaguely recognised as being a boy from another class.

"Pound it!" The three heroes exclaimed, fist bumping with triumphant smirks adorning their faces.

Chat Noir did his usual salute, winking at Ladybug, before vaulting away with his staff and disappearing from view over the skyline.

Ladybug gasped, bringing up a hand to her earrings as they let out their usual shrill warning beep. "Bug out!" She shouted with her usual salute, a thought that she'd forgotten something, something important, running in the back of her mind.

Meanwhile, a confused Carapace frowned to himself, the beeping of his miraculous alerting him that he needed to find a place to hide before someone accidentally found out his secret identity.

Marinette let out a sigh of relief as she detransformed once again, taking a cookie out of her bag as she always did so that Tikki could gain her energy back.

"Marinette, aren't you forgetting something?" Tikki questioned with a knowing look.

"No... ?" Marinette trailed off, her eyes widening and her hand slapping over her mouth as she let out a small gasp in realisation.

"I forgot to take Nino's miraculous back from him!"

Tikki nodded at her, watching on as her holder went into another state of mass panic.

"It'll be okay, Marinette," Tikki reassured before taking another munch of her cookie. "Just talk to Master Fu about it, and I'm sure you'll work something out."

"Okay." Marinette agreed, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she began to make her way over to meet Master Fu once again.

"So, little dude, what do we do now?" Nino awkwardly questioned as he closed the door to his room.

After having a minor freak out in the alleyway, he and Wayzz decided that it would be best for them to go back to Nino's home and sort things out when he was feeling more tranquil.

"We should wait for any words from Ladybug," the little kwami replied, "until then, we should wait and keep me out of sight."

Nino nodded, walking over to his open laptop and switching it on. Wayzz watched intently from behind him as the dark-haired boy typed out some words and opened up the Ladyblog.

"Young Master, what are you doing?" He inquired, landing on top of Nino's hat that was still placed upon his head.

Nino let out a chuckle at being called 'young master' and scrolled down through the posts to try and find the one he needed.

"I'm trying to find out when they'll be on patrol," he explained, clicking on the article when he found it. "It seems as if we'll have to wait until tomorrow, little buddy."

Wayzz gazed at the screen, nodding when he read through the information Nino had mentioned to him. Today was a Friday and, according to Alya's observations, neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir patrolled on that day.

"While I'm here, do you have any tea?" Wayzz questioned, making Nino look up to the top of his head where the kwami was still perched.

"Yeah, but won't it be like a little bath for you?" Nino questioned, chuckling a little at the image of Wayzz falling into a cup of tea in one of their cups.

"I'll be careful, Young Master."

"Okay, little buddy," Nino chuckled, standing up from his seat, "I'll see what I can do for you."

"Thank you, Young Master."

"Oh, you don't need to call me that, dude," Nino whispered as Wayzz hid underneath his cap again, "Nino is fine."

He could feel Wayzz squirm a little from under the hat, showing that the kwami was a bit confused by that.

When they returned to his room, Wayzz reappeared from his hiding spot, floating down to drink the hot tea that Nino had made for him.

"Thank you, Young Ma-" Wayzz began, cutting himself off and shaking his head, "Thank you, Nino."

Later on during the day, Wayzz floated over to Nino's DJ equipment, curiously inspecting the myriad of technology displayed in front of him.

Noticing this, Nino walked over and turned on a few switches before playing his usual songs. Wayzz watched on, entranced, as Nino continued and lost himself in the music like he did every time.

The two grinned at each other, happy that the opportunity to spend some time together had occurred.

Nino continued to grin at the little turtle. It was going to be a lot harder for him to say goodbye now that he had taken the time to get to know the little kwami better.

"Good morning, Nino!" Marinette greeted as Nino walked into the classroom, her heart racing as she tried not to point out the miraculous he still wore on his arm.

Nino saluted back at her in greeting before sitting down in his seat.

Marinette glanced over to Nino's bag that was now placed on the floor, noticing Wayzz's head poking out of the top.

The turtle kwami nodded at her, indicating that everything had gone okay and that nobody had spotted him. Marinette breathed a sigh of relief at that.

For now, she just had to focus on school and get through the day. She guessed that Nino would have tried to find out their patrol days, so she deliberately told Chat Noir to have the night off. He'd seemed a bit uneasy at first, but eventually he reluctantly agreed to it.

Throughout the day, her eyes kept flickering the the green bracelet on his wrist. She kept biting her bottom lip to stop words that could potentially cause him to connect the dots from tumbling out of her mouth. Nino may not be the smartest person she knows, but he wasn't an idiot.

That evening, Ladybug leapt over the streets of Paris, the evening breeze flowing through her midnight hair.

The flung out the string of her yo-yo in front of her and swung up to the rooftop of the Trocadero. Once on top, she glanced around her, trying to spot Nino — or Carapace, if he'd transformed.

"Ladybug!" A shout came from down below, and she moved her gaze to see Nino, his ever present red cap still placed upon his head, waving at her from the ground.

The jumped down, trying not to smile too much as she waited to break the news to him. She'd been shocked by it herself at first, but she knew he'd be overjoyed.

"So, uh, I guess I need to give this back to you now, don't I?" He questioned, reaching for the bracelet.

But before he could slide it off his wrist, she placed her hand over his, catching him off guard.

"I spoke with the great guardian yesterday," she began, smiling at him, "he told me that he thinks you're responsible enough to keep the miraculous."

Nino's jaw slacked before his lips curled into a grin. He glanced up at Wayzz who had made himself comfortable on top of his cap, and the turtle kwami smiled back at him.

"Thank you, Ladybug!" Nino exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her in a warm hug which she soon returned. "Thank you so much!"

"If you're not careful, I'm going to beat you this time!"

"You're a turtle, Carapace, so I'm pretty sure my chances of winning are very high!"

The two heroes raced around the city, carefree grins on their faces.

They leapt into the air, Ladybug letting out a squeal as they collided in the air and fell down onto a nearby rooftop.

"Note to self: don't jump in the same direction at the same time." Carapace laughed, turning his head to glance at the spotted heroine beside him.

Carapace could feel his heart pound at the close contact between them, their faces only centimetres apart. He could practically feel Ladybug's warm breath ghosting his nose and mouth as she gazed into his eyes.

He had felt a great burden lift from his shoulders on the day he broke up with Alya for the girl beside him was capturing his heart and consuming his mind.

Guilt had plagued him for so long, but not any more. Even though it had only been a few days since the break-up, Carapace already felt that he'd moved on.

He briefly glanced down to her lips, hoping that she hadn't noticed as warmth began to radiate from his cheeks.

The adorable giggle she let out didn't help his beating heart at all.

Getting lost in his emotions, Carapace leant forwards and captured her lips with his own. Ladybug's eyes widened in shock at the sudden movement, but she soon relaxed as her eyes fluttered closed and she returned the love-filled kiss.

A myriad of thoughts ran through their minds as all of their love for each other was poured into the single kiss. After a few moments of the sweet bliss, they pulled away and gazed into each other's eyes.

"I-I'm so sorry!" Carapace blurted out as he scrambled to get up on his feet, his heart pounding as thoughts of rejection flew through his mind.

'What if I just screwed everything up? Will she hate me now? How on earth am I supposed to explain this? What am I-'

"Carapace!"

A loud shout brought his out of his trance as her hand waved in front of his face.

"Breathe, Carapace," She told him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as his breathing started to even out, "calm down."

"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down when I just screwed everything up?!" Carapace questioned, his hands pulling his hair on either side of his head as he paced up and down the rooftop they were still on.

"Screwed everything up?" Ladybug questioned, a baffled expression etched on her porcelain face. "Oh, Carapace," she giggled, shaking her head at him.

Ladybug gave him her usual sweet smile — one that made his heart race — and walked over to him, caressing his cheek.

"You haven't screwed anything up at all," she whispered, gazing into his amber eyes. "Carapace, I can't keep denying the fact that I'm falling in love with you."

He gasped as his eyes widened in shock at her confession. Carapace's expression softened as he placed his hand over the one that still rested upon his cheek.

"I've found myself falling in love with you, too."

They both smiled at each other before he pulled her into a loving embrace, the two of them staying in the position for what felt like forever.

About two weeks later, a black-clad hero stood on a rooftop, watching on as his teammates shared brief a victory kiss after they defeated another akuma. The little tradition of theirs had started about a week ago when Carapace suddenly pulled Ladybug into a kiss.

The media had gone wild over it, and Alya even started to refer to the two of them as 'LadyPace'. They had been all over the news for the past week and, from the sounds of camera shutters that he could hear, it would remain that way for a while longer.

Chat Noir looked away from them at that moment, still feeling a little heartbroken. When he had found out about the relationship, he had put on a fake smile.

However, after noticing the lovestruck expressions on their faces whenever they were around each other, he soon accepted the newfound relationship.

They'd both reassured him that he'd never lose his status as being Ladybug's best friend and crime-fighting partner, so he was happy with that.

Chat Noir's gaze landed upon another girl who was waiting in the streets below, one who had managed to catch his attention as he moved on from the beloved spotted heroine.

His face lit up with joy when he saw his fiery classmate and he waved to her, catching her attention.

"Chat Noir!" Alya exclaimed, over eagerly waving back to him. He smiled to himself before jumping down from the rooftop to land beside her before taking her hand in his own and placing a light kiss upon it.

He hadn't needed to use his power in the battle so hanging around with her for a while wouldn't be a problem, right?

After giggling at the grin on his face after he kissed her hand, Alya waved her phone in the air, an eager grin displayed on her face.

"So... I have an interview with Ladybug, but I've never managed to get one with you," she smirked as she leaned towards him, "I say we change that fact."

Meanwhile, Ladybug and Carapace watched as Chat Noir talked to the overeager teenage reporter, smiling at each other when they saw the obvious anxious expression adorning the usually confident boy's face as Alya grabbed his hand and led him to a nearby bench.

Ladybug intertwined her fingers with Carapace's as the two heroes turned to face each other and gazed into each other's eyes.

She stood on her tiptoes as she briefly placed her lips upon his own, pulling away a moment later.

"I'll see you tonight, Nino," she whispered into his ear, smirking at his flustered expression when she pulled away, "make sure to be transformed and ready for our date."

Carapace let out a lovesick sigh as his beautiful girlfriend — could he call her that yet? Their relationship wasn't quite official yet, but they were close enough — winked at him before swinging away on her yo-yo.

He held his hand over his heart, a determined grin beginning to overtake his features. He was going to find out who she was one day so that he could spend more time with her even without their masks, and he couldn't wait for that moment.

He grinned to himself, knowing that all he had to do was prove that she could trust him with anything. So that's what he was going to do.

She would be his warrior and he would be her trusted protector.

In that moment, Carapace vowed to be a trustworthy friend and a loving boyfriend. Even though dating in masks wasn't easy, he knew they'd make it work.

Carapace grinned to himself as the dull flame suddenly ignited into a spark of hope inside of him.


End file.
